Now things got more hectic for the area’s high school girls volleyball teams with a series of OHSL Liberty division matches that included some big-time rivalries.
Neighbors Westhill and Solvay gathered last Tuesday, with the Warriors remaining undefeated by prevailing in four sets, though the Bearcats made it difficult from the outset.
The first set went beyond the wire, Westhill taking it 26-24 before roaring to a 25-14 win in the second set. On the brink of getting swept, Solvay rose up, withstood match points and won the third set 30-28, but the Warriors didn’t panic, instead claiming a 25-20 win in the fourth set to stay undefeated.
Montana Gedney had 15 kills, three aces and 12 digs, with Bridget Lougen gaining 13 kills and Mackenzie Martin seven kills, to go with her 29 assists. Sophia Sgroi had seven assists, four aces and nine digs. Emma Bryant and Brigid Heinrich both had five kills as Leah Diefendorf had three aces and Isabella Radio Rodriguez three kills and five digs.
Solvay’s strong effort included Brielle Bagozzi’s seven kills, 14 digs and two blocks. Allie Posnick had 14 assists and Mackenzie McCarthy 11 assists, plus 10 digs. Taylor Preble added 13 digs, three aces and three assists. Bella Petralito produced eight kills and nine digs. Lauren Nichols, Ashley Bosco and Anna Rolince had four kills apiece.
This followed, by a day, Solvay’s five-set defeat to LaFayette where it recovered from a 25-14 loss in the first set to win the next two sets 25-16 and 25-21, only to see the Lancers make its own turnaround to claim the fourth set 25-20 and pull out the final set 25-17.
Bagozzi had 11 kills and seven digs, with Bosco adding 10 kills and Petralito seven kills, plus seven digs. Posnick (15 assists, nine digs) and Mikayla Knight (13 assists, six digs) split back-line duties with Preble, who amassed 21 digs to go with six assists. LaFayette got 23 kills and 10 digs from Sophia Powless, with Rhiannon Abrams getting 28 assists, 11 digs, six kills and three aces.
Marcellus met its neighbor and rival, Skaneateles, last Tuesday night, and reversed recent history by beating the Lakers in four sets, even more remarkable given that the Mustangs lost the opening set by a big 25-13 margin.
But the Mustangs opened the second set on a 6-1 run, fending off all of the Skaneateles charges to win that set 25-19. Then, in the third set, the teams traded slim leads until the Mustangs got in front at the midway point, ultimately hanging on to win 25-20.
During a tense fourth set, both sides made runs, but then Skaneateles took a 24-23 lead and had a serve to force a fifth set. Marcellus saved that point, and at 26-26 regained the serve, able to get the two points it needed to close out the match, 28-26.
Marcellus setter Olivia Quick picked up 26 assists, benefiting the duo of Margaret Kianka (10 kills) and Katherine Sauro (eight kills) on the front line as Rachel Randall added 10 digs. Meghan O’Brien had four kills, and Emily Welch got three aces and three kills as Julia Piorkowski had six digs, three aces and three kills.
Getting its own match with Skaneateles on Thursday night, Westhill swept the Lakers 25-6, 25-20, 25-15. Lougen had 10 kills, her passes often coming from Martin, who amassed 18 assists to go with five kills. Gedney also had five kills, adding six aces and 11 digs as Sophia Sgroi contributed eight digs and five assists.
As that went on, Solvay lost to those other Lakers from Cazenovia, each of the three sets ending in 25-13 decisions. Bagozzi had four kills and four digs, while Preble had five digs. McCarthy (five assists) and Allis Posnick (four assists) worked on the back line as Danielle Tedesco led Cazenovia with 10 kills and Maleigha Ellithorpe had 18 assists.
Marcellus would prevail again on Thursday over Jordan-Elbridge. The 25-7, 25-12, 25-20 sweep of the Eagles included six aces from Kianka and six kills from O’Brien, with Quick gaining nine assists and Sydney French notching five assists and four aces. Randall had eight digs as J-E’s Bailey Van Gorden had 14 assists.
